Half A Glass Of Water
we sat drinking
the milk of lions
and smoking argila
way past midnight
the curtains drawn
the candles burning
outside, the curtains were drawn
Baghdad is burning
do you see the glass
half full of water
or half empty?
I asked
I don’t see the glass!
one said
I don’t see the water!
another intoned
we all laughed
I mean if I were holding a glass
with some water in it
would you see it as half full
or as half empty?
would you be giving me the water?
the poet asked
yes!
then I will see it as an uninterrupted
flowing fountain of bliss
a blue ocean
a cleansing rain
washing away
incertitude
and making
between my toes
hope spring
to life
to life
we all echoed
and downed a shot
I’ll keep a picture of it
he continued
in my mind
and dream of it later
when the sun
announces
the day murderous
and reality claims
me
as one of its straying
sons of Iraq
but …if we were two
we would fight and kill
each other for the water
and you would end up
drinking it
by then, it would be
blood red and murky
we heartily laughed
at his gallows humor
because that’s all
there was to laugh at
